Changing Minds
by YAOIisFOREVERwithME
Summary: Naruto has been taking the torment and pranks that come along with Sasuke for years. When sparks start to fly between the new kid and our blond, will the raven change his ways in time to convince Naruto of his true feelings?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my second story (yay!) Be nice, because I kinda just started typing... and confused myself by the end of this, so just tell me if it's worth going forward with. (I still will, but it's nice to have support!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Warnings: ... Bet you thought I was gonna write something juicy didn't ya?**

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Chapter 1: I'm Stupid

Gaara

Clocks were only useful for one thing; telling time. Clocks were also useless because time always seemed to move slowly if you stared at the bloody contraption for too long. So why Gaara couldn't stop looking at the clock was beyond him, as it struck 1:20 p.m. He'd been waiting for that old man to show up in his _own_ office for twenty minutes now. The red head flexed his hands briefly, mentally preparing himself for the leap he was about to make out of the chair if Kabuto didn't show up in five seconds.

Five…four…three…two-

"Lucky bastard." Gaara muttered under his breath as Kabuto slammed open his office door and stiffly walked over to sit behind his desk, all before Gaara had finished his count down. Clearing his throat loudly, Kabuto pulled out Gaara's file and slapped it on the desk.

"Do you know why you've been called to my office?" Ugh. Here we go with the stupid pointless question every principal asks before they themselves answer the obvious question. Thinking along those lines, Gaara just shrugged and leaned his head against his elbow. Kabuto glared at the attitude he displayed before clucking his tongue in disapproval.

"Alright then, shall we start with your failing grades? Or maybe your bad attitude with the teachers? Or rather you getting into your fifth fight this semester!" Gaara winced slightly as Kabuto's voice got louder with each sentence.

"Mr. Sabaku, I know you're smarter than this because your grades were admirable when you first began attending here, but I'm afraid you've fallen past where we can help you. Your father has requested that we transfer you immediately to Bijuu High School in Konoha." Jaw dropped in outrage, Gaara opened his mouth to interrupt, but Kabuto abruptly cut him off.

"This is non-negotiable! This is no longer up to you, seeing as you've blown all of your chances-"

"That doesn't mean you have the right to ship me off to some other school! What the hell makes you think I'll do any better there than I did here? They're nothing but a bunch of rich snobs!" Allowing Gaara to finish his rant, Kabuto briefly adjusted his glasses before looking sternly at Gaara.

"That is where you are mistaken. Yes, that school is known for its elite group of students, but they also have a new program in place for students who have potential but need extra guidance with finances, social stability, behavior, etcetera. In your case its all of the above." Gaara sneered at that, slouching further in his chair. Half hoping he'd break the legs by _accident_.

Kabuto continued, "Your father recommends this for you to get back on track, and if you have any more complaints, please take them up with him instead. Have a good day, Mr. Sabaku." Clearly being dismissed, Gaara stood angrily from his chair fully intending to take the principal's advice and confront his father.

Naruto

"Maa, Naruto, wake up. You should be paying attention, not sleeping in class!" Ino bristled when all she got was a swat of the hand from one very tired blonde.

"Ino, its computer applications, no one is ever awake in this class," said a very bored voice from the computer across from her. Ino couldn't see his face, which annoyed her even more.

"Funny, I don't remember saying _Shikamaru_ when I was speaking to Naruto!" She couldn't see from where she was sitting, but she was pretty sure he rolled his eyes when she heard a muttered 'Troublesome' float over the space between them. Ignoring the brunette completely, Ino turned back to Naruto, attempting to wake him up once again.

"Naru, if you don't feel well enough to at least _pretend_ you're listening to Kakashi then just go to the nurse." She snorted, when she saw Naruto's ears perk up; figures he'd be awake enough to here _that_. Finally, Naruto lifted his head and blearily peered out from under his eyelids, revealing deep ocean blue irises.

"Nah, Kakashi wouldn't fall for it. Plus the bastard would jump at any chance to make fun of me." Ino nodded her head, only half-listening when her eyes caught sight of said bastard. Mr. Bastard was listening intently to whatever Kakashi was babbling about, and neatly taking notes on his small notebook pad. Naruto felt the heat grow in his cheeks, when he caught Sai's hand sliding up Sasuke's thigh, but quickly looked away before the raven caught him staring.

When Naruto was pretty sure Ino's attention was somewhere else and not on him at all, he laid his head back down, giving up on explaining his reluctance to the airhead.

Fifteen minutes later, the bell rang ending sixth period thankfully, but sending him to his dreaded seventh period class which was Japanese History. Sitting down in whichever seat was less visible by the teacher, Naruto began to make himself comfortable for his second nap of the day when the leg of his chair was kicked roughly.

Snapping up, Naruto first took note of the body leaning on his desk and hovering above his head, the next thing his noticed was the crisp blazer only one person in the whole school was known for keeping so clean and perfect.

Sasuke Uchiha.

"What're you doing in my seat, dobe?" His normally smooth voice always took on a tone of acid when speaking to him. It was no wonder they hated each other.

"Obviously trying to sleep, jerk." Naruto said, giving up on ever getting the full rest he deserved and settling a harsh glare on the raven. Not one for confrontation especially when tired, Naruto grabbed his bag and made to get out of the Uchiha's _precious_ seat, when he was shoved back into it.

"I'm waiting for my apology." Sasuke said evenly, narrowing his eyes at the blonde when he looked back at him with infuriated shock. Closing his gaping mouth in favor of gritting his teeth, Naruto ground out an unapologetic 'sorry' and Sasuke allowed him to leave the seat, but not without making the blonde stumble awkwardly.

Claiming the now only seat left, which was right in front of the teacher's desk, Naruto sighed as he slid into it. This was pretty much how every day went. He'd come to school, either pay attention or sleep, get picked on by Sasuke, laugh with his friends, and pretend that their _lack_ of defense didn't bother him at all. They were his friends yeah, but when it came to crossing Sasuke, no one even batted an eye.

The thought used to make him angry, but he soon grew used to the treatment. It was all an unspoken acceptation within their circle of friends. Sasuke doesn't always play the role of the bastard. At school he never breaks out of character, unless they're alone. That's when he loses the snide comments and remarks, the acid in his voice and the coldness in his eyes. He becomes human and opens up, which is why Naruto knows more about Sasuke than even Sasuke does about him, yet the moment someone else is thrown into the picture, his masks slips right back into place.

Laying his head on his arms and ignoring Kurenai's sharp glance from behind her desk, Naruto began to drift between sleep and alertness. He failed to catch all the worried looks his friends threw him in favor of catching some shut-eye.

After about five minutes, the school bell rang again, officially beginning seventh period classes. Kurenai stood from her desk albeit unsteadily due to her six-month bulging stomach, with a stack of papers.

"Class, I've graded all of your tests from last week. And though some of you still failed to grip the concepts, the overall average of the class exceeded my expectations." Some students cheered, while others stayed guiltily quiet, knowing for a fact that they were the one's contributing to the lowest section of the class's average.

"Can someone please come up and pass these out? Ah! Thank you, Sasuke." Naruto, though still out of it, made no move to lift his head to receive his paper. He was pretty sure the bastard would 'accidentally' drop it on the ground anyways, so it came as a shock when Naruto felt his quiz nudged under his arm enough so it wouldn't fall on the floor.

Lifting his head to peek at the raven, he watched as Sasuke carelessly tossed everyone else's wherever they would land. Shikamaru lazily scrambled to catch his before it hit the ground, Kiba had little success dislodging his from under the legs of his desk, and everyone was pretty much in the same predicament. Kurenai smiled stiffly at Sasuke, before directing him back to his seat.

The class was filled with chatter as everyone compared grades, some complaining, others surprised at their high marks. Naruto pulled his from sight before anyone could notice his full marks and one-hundred percent grade. He thanked the lords that every Bijuu High teacher made students pass out papers upside down _without_ their grades visible. Everyone thought he was an idiot, and he preferred to keep it that way in favor of everyone, or his _friends_ at least, treating him as an equal. There was no doubt Sasuke would scoff in absolute disbelief if word ever got out that Naruto maintained straight A's all throughout high school despite the fact he slept through everything, much like Shikamaru.

The Uchiha glanced in Naruto's direction briefly and scowled when he found Naruto's gaze on him. Immediately stuffing his head back into his arms, Naruto huffed loudly, frustrated with the Uchiha's constant mixed signals. If he was gonna put up with that bull shit, he'd do it in his dreams. As he dozed off, Kurenai announced something that would change the rest of his senior year drastically.

"Class, before you are dismissed, we'll be having a new student amongst us from Sunagakure. Please treat him with respect when he is introduced to you tomorrow morning. Have a good evening class." Right then the bell rang loudly and everyone except a still sleeping Naruto and a slow-moving Sasuke packed up and left.

Naruto jolted awake the second time that day, when his desk was violently kicked. Pulling himself into a sitting position, Naruto glared at the seemingly innocent retreating back of Sasuke as he left the classroom. Picking up his bag, Naruto left the school and got into his rusty orange truck. Slamming the driver's door, Naruto leaned his head up against the wheel and sighed loudly.

"What the fuck is his problem with me?" Naruto fumed while he sat there finding no answer in his steering wheel. He hadn't done anything to deserve the bastard's precious _attention_ for the last three years. Why he hadn't stood up for himself at all was the bigger mystery. Was he waiting for someone else to take care of him? Knowing the answer to that, Naruto sighed loudly in frustration.

"I'm so sick of this shit." Turning his key in the ignition, Naruto started his car and yanked the gear into drive. No one besides the faculty's cars was left in the parking lot, so he was free to swerve through all the empty spaces until he exited the school grounds.

Sasuke

"Itachi get out, now." The only thing that answered Sasuke was the sound of a page being turned. Growling softly, Sasuke snatched the book from his older brothers hands, which earned him an irritated look from eyes just as black as his own.

"I'm serious Itachi. Sai's coming over and I'm sure you don't want to be here when he arrives." Needing no further prompting, Itachi swiftly rose to his feet. Reaching his hand out in a silent demand, Sasuke dropped the stolen book back into its owner's hands.

"Are you finally going to end that disaster of a relationship?" Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Is that any of your business?"

"Drop the act, otouto. You may be gay, but even I see there's no attraction between the two of you; definitely not from your side." With a smirk, Itachi silently left the room. The minute Sasuke heard the sound of his bedroom door slamming shut; Sasuke heard a knock from the front door. He'd never admit how right Itachi was with his assessment.

Opening the door slowly, Sasuke allowed Sai to pop his head through the crack, but didn't open it any further.

"What's up Sasuke? You gonna let me in-?" Sasuke interrupted him with a glare.

"It's over." To emphasize his point, he slammed the door in his face before he could respond. Ignoring the angry knocking that lasted for five minutes, Sasuke made his way up to his room and plopped down on his bed. The silence lasted for about a second until Sai slammed the door open.

"What the fuck-!" A pair of lips smashing into his stopped the curses abruptly. Sasuke yanked Sai off of him by the hair and slammed him onto the floor of his bedroom. Standing above him, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the brunette whose features were similar to his own. Black eyes, dark hair, pale complexion, and now a bleeding lip that contrasted sharply with his milky skin.

"What about 'It's over', did you not understand?" Sai shot a heated glare his way.

"You can't just end it like that! We've been together since the year started-"

"So what? Go buy a cat if what you need is comfort, now get out!" Seeing that he wasn't going to budge on his own, Sasuke raised an expectant eyebrow. Sai only looked away from him with a petulant pout. Sasuke stalked towards his study desk, Sai watching every stride, and allowed his hand to hover over a concealed dark blue button.

"Am I going to have to let security escort you out?" Sasuke asked softly, fingering the button in his hand as he watched Sai squirm. Different emotions went through the boy's face all at once until he finally came to a decision. Standing stiffly and ignoring the headache he was now sporting, Sai stomped out of the room and didn't stop until he was streaking out of the Uchiha's driveway.

Slamming the button back out of sight, Sasuke turned to the chuckling figure now standing in his doorway.

"You let him in didn't you?" He said with his eyes narrowed sharply. Itachi said nothing and left the fuming Sasuke to silence.

"Piece of shit." Slamming his door shut, Sasuke instead went over to his computer to delete Sai from all of his contacts. He didn't want the guy trying to reach him in any form whatsoever. While doing this, he caught sight of a flash signaling a new person was online. Noticing the familiar username, Sasuke quickly typed a message without really thinking of what to say.

Chat Room- THANAMESUCHIHA, OrangeSuitsME

THANAMESUCHIHA: Shouldn't you be doing something more productive with your time?

_OrangeSuitsMe is typing a message._

OrangeSuitsMe: Why the hell do you care?

Expecting the harsh reply, Sasuke was already typing before he even read the whole response.

THANAMESUCHIHA: Because I'm writing a report on what idiots do during their free time.

_OrangeSuitsMe is typing a message._

OrangeSuitsMe: …..

OrangeSuitsMe: Are you really wasting _your_ precious time just to insult me?

That response caught him off guard. Why was he wasting the time he deemed so precious on Naruto? His actions confused even him. He'd been doing that a lot lately. Leaning closer than necessary just to sneer in the blonde's direction, pushing him extra hard just so he could feel his flesh for a second longer before the blonde would go flying into the asphalt, or even today when he'd practically cornered him in the hallway.

Leaning back in his chair, Sasuke rubbed his eyes with his palms in frustration. There was no way he was beginning to feel _anything_ for that blonde, blue-eyed idiot! With that convincing thought in mind, Sasuke finally replied.

THANAMESUCHIHA: I honestly don't know.

_THANAMESUCHIHA has logged off._

Naruto

Reading the reply with nothing but pure distaste, Naruto logged off then jammed his finger into the power off button, waiting for his screen to go completely black. Once again he found himself asking the same exact question.

"What's his damn problem!" He yelled throwing the keyboard from his lap and onto the desk table. He wasn't worried about waking anyone up seeing as he lived alone, but he did have to remind himself that he lived in an apartment complex filled with tons of cranky sleeping strangers.

Why was it so hard for them to just get along? They had more in common than they cared to admit, and Naruto swore he'd be shoved through a keyhole before he ever said it out loud. Ever since he could remember, Sasuke just acted like he hated him for no reason.

They were constantly moving back and forth and never getting anywhere! One minute it was as if they were both on the same page, and in the very next instant, Sasuke would say something that would return them back to where they started. Their relationship was just…

… complicated.

Giving up on ever understanding that son-of-a-bitch, Naruto prepared himself for bed and allowed his mind to drift off into a fitful sleep.

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A/N: Whoa deja vu! Remember, I don't know where I'm going so I'm up for suggestions... anyone? ANYONE! This was really short, but as I get an idea in my head, they'll be longer (no worries). Review!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know. I fucked up with the updating, but I made up for it by making this exxxxtraa long. I reached a brain fart somewhere in there haha, maybe you can guess where, but anyways I sucked at getting this out on time due to it flooding over here but we're all alive and well so don't even think about it. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Warning: ehhh... hmm... nah, I got nothin'.**

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Chapter 2: I'm useless

Gaara

"Un-fucking-believable. This is even worse than the picture." His voice full of disbelief, Gaara glared around the large campus, taking in the sickeningly, rich atmosphere. He gritted his teeth when random students blatantly stared at him as they passed by. The red-head had only stepped one foot on the campus and he already wanted to rip every single head off that dared to so much as glance in his direction.

Whoever gave Kabuto his license to make sound and viable decisions, was a fucking retard. If this 'solution' didn't work, he was gonna rub his ass in that principal's face forever-!

His trail of thought was abruptly cut off, when he was shoved roughly to the right by a colliding body. Landing hard on the pavement sent a stab of pain right up his back, and made white flash behind his eyeballs. Tasting blood in the back of his mouth from biting his tongue, Gaara roughly spit it out then turned towards the mop of blonde that was currently _residing_ on his chest.

The red-head was right about to use a few choice words for what he thought about being messed with on his first day, when his eyes caught sight of a dark-haired prick smirking with a small group of other stuck-up-looking guys. And it wasn't the 'I just saw something funny' smirk it was the 'Because I did that, I'm gonna look even cooler' smirk. What a jackass.

Looking back down at the blonde headed kid, Gaara awkwardly tapped him on the head; not sure if he was taking the time to compose himself, or if he was getting a little _too_ comfy. Blondie, which Gaara resorted to calling him, shifted a bit to try and stand, but only hissed in pain when he put weight on his wrist.

"Hey, you alright, blond- I mean kid?" Gaara asked with concern, not wanting to be rude but wanting the blonde off of him as soon as possible. The students that had completely ignored him before were now openly gawking at the two of them sprawled on the ground in the middle of the campus sidewalk. Rolling his eyes to the heavens, Gaara gave up on trying to have a normal, incident-free first day.

Blondie sat up a bit more; obviously trying to hide his pain by the way he was holding onto his lip with his teeth. At the sudden movement, Gaara wasn't prepared for the beaming smile Mr. Blondie sent his way. He had to squint his eyes so that he wouldn't go blind.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't even worry about it." Once the smile was gone, Gaara was finally able to get a good look at the kid that had so gracefully sent him to the ground. He was definitely your typical blue-eyed blonde; his naturally tan skin only adding to the affect. His build was smaller than Gaara's, but he was far from a shrimp; the red-head probably only had an inch, at most, on this guy.

"If you say so…. mind getting off of me now?" A blush as red as ketchup covered the blonde's face as he muttered a quiet 'my bad' and removed himself from the red-head's body. Gaara immediately felt a chill that contrasted sharply with the warmth of the others body, but didn't let the discomfort show as he stood along with him. Gaara was quietly dusting himself off when he felt like he was being watched. Inclining his head to this side in question he scanned the crowd and his eyes automatically met dark brooding ones.

Gaara's icy stare met the dark-haired prick's across the sidewalk, and though he didn't know it, there was a slight warning to the dark gaze. Never being known for backing down to anyone, Gaara lifted a light eyebrow mockingly, enjoying the brief flicker of anger that past through his opponent's eye.

Totally caught up in his staring contest, Gaara nearly screamed when a hand was waved in his face.

"Hello! You in there, dude?" Gaara grabbed his hand with more force than necessary and the blonde, who couldn't catch his balance in time, toppled into him again. However, this time Gaara was able to at least remain standing, but without even realizing it, his hand had wandered to the blonde's hip to keep him steady. The glare that had once been a nagging sensation was now a full-blown hole burning in his skull.

The red-head glanced up once and one look confirmed his suspicion. Looking back down at Blondie, he released the captured hand and righted him, ignoring the blush that had once again returned to his cheeks.

"Sorry, I space a lot," he said casually, adjusting his backpack, and picking up his books. The dark-haired guy was still watching them, which only succeeded in annoying the hell out of Gaara as he huffed his breath out causing his long bangs to flutter, "You should be more careful though; I don't think your boyfriend appreciates me saving your ass."

The smile that had once been permanently placed on Blondie's face slipped a bit when he turned sharply to look at said 'boyfriend' across the sidewalk. Taking Naruto's glance as a confirmation, Gaara turned and walked away; re-beginning his long-awaited first day of school, hopefully without more bulldozing morons interrupting it. By the time Blondie looked away from the prick, Gaara was already disappearing among the crowds of students entering the building.

Watching him go, Naruto growled under his breath allowing his cheerful mask to slip. Great, just what he needed, another asshole that had issues with accepting kind gestures, and bright smiles. Not only that, but it was like his cheeks were on the constant setting of beet red. Feeling his cheeks beginning to heat at the memory of the red-head's arms wrapped around him, whether intentional or not. Naruto mentally slapped himself, shaking the strange thoughts from his head.

It's not like he was gay or anything.

Trying his best to ignore the Uchiha that was smirking in his direction, Naruto righted the bag on his shoulder and set off in the same direction as the red-head.

Naruto

Naruto walked into his first period, which was Anatomy and Physiology, feeling pretty much the same way he had when the day started; pissed. Sasuke was acting as if that retarded conversation, as short as it was, that they'd had last night had never happened. The guy was all over the place with everything he did, yet every move he made had a calculated air about it.

Once again, he was asking himself why he cared.

Heading straight for the back of the class, while ignoring the few students openly whispering around him about what happened earlier, Naruto settled himself in for his daily routine; sleep the first ten minutes of class then wake up and take whatever notes are already on the board and ace the test. Leaning back, he folded his arms over his eyes and rested his head against the wall. Silently patting himself on the back for being early for once, Naruto let all the noise drown out into the background.

Approximately five minutes had passed just fine, when the later students finally began filing into the classroom one by one, the next louder than the last. A part of him wondered who exactly was coming in and when, because soon enough he'd have to memorized it, so he knew just how long he could sit in peace before being disrupted.

"Naruto! Wake the hell up!" Yep, definitely Ino. Sluggishly lifting his arm to peer under it, he met blue eyes about two shades lighter than his, glaring between the cracks in his arms. Sighing, Naruto finally sat up all the way, blinking his eyes rapidly to clear the blur.

"I'm up, I'm up. Geez, Ino, maybe I should take you home with me and make you my personal alarm clock." Ino scoffed while turning to slap her books on her desk, still clutching her tiny purse to her shoulder. Turning back to face him, Ino placed her hands on her hips.

"Please! You couldn't afford such a rare quality and I refuse to be hauled around in that junky clunker you call a truck."

"Hey, watch it. That's my baby you're talking about." Naruto said half-kidding, putting his hands up in mock defense. Ino snorted, but dropped her hands from her hips and took her seat delicately. Naruto sighed on the inside; he would never tell them why the other half of him was also serious. Truth was he owned way more than just that truck…

…but he'd never tell them that.

The dark aura settling itself into the seat next to him didn't escape him either, as he avoided all contact with the raven and concentrated all his energy on the clock hanging right above the desk.

Inconspicuously pulling out his notebook three second before the teacher came into the classroom; Naruto went ahead and began writing down all the objectives on the board, so he knew what to study when he got home. That way he could pretend to not pay attention and his grade wouldn't fluctuate any. The silent boy next to him did the same, which struck Naruto as odd. Sasuke wouldn't be called social, but he wasn't exactly what you called 'introverted' either and the fact that he hadn't made one jeer towards the blonde made Naruto more uneasy than relieved.

All through class the Uchiha didn't show any sign of livening up until Ms. Mitarashi, or Anko-sensei depending on whether or not you're Japanese, brought everyone's attention to the front of class. Without his permission, Naruto's heart jumped into his throat. For the second time that day, icy turquoise eyes met shocked blue directly.

Despite the fact that his blood red hair was blocking the full view of his eyes, Naruto could practically feel his icy stare. Expecting him to look away first like Sasuke usually, Naruto continued to openly stare back at him, catching the attention of the students that had been whispering earlier about what happened between them before class. When the whispering started, the red-head snapped his head away and resumed to stare disinterestedly at the opposite wall.

"Hey that new kid's hot!" A pink haired girl sitting next to Ino said, with emerald green eyes that sparked with the challenge. Ino glared at her openly.

"Hands off, Sakura, I spotted him first!" Sakura rolled her eyes and looked pointedly in Sasuke's general direction; Naruto wouldn't know for sure because he was steadfastly avoiding all contact.

"What about Sasuke? I thought you were _in love_ with him?" Ino's cheeks colored slightly, but she swept the comment away as quickly as it had come, shooting back with one of her own.

"You were too, every girl was! And at least I didn't have a crush on _Naruto_ freshman year." It was Sakura's turn to become scarlet as she shot a nervous glance at said blonde then turned to glare at Ino with renewed force. Sensing his cue, because Naruto wouldn't be the ball of sunshine that he was today if he didn't keep his act up, the blonde opened his mouth to put in his two-cents.

"What's wrong with that? I'm way cuter than that guy and Sasuke put together!" Naruto's timing couldn't have been more perfect because, of course, the whole class heard him and burst out laughing; Sasuke being the loudest, which wasn't surprising.

Then again, Naruto was ultra sensitive when it came to anything he did.

The blush that covered his face was also perfectly timed, along with the moment that Sasuke opened his mouth to finally hit him with the insult he'd been waiting for all class period.

"Since when has anyone been interested in airheaded blondes?" He said this to more laughter, effectively embarrassing Naruto in front of the whole class and worse, in front of the new student that Naruto had also avoided looking at since the scene had begun to play out.

"Beside Uzumaki, it wasn't any of them that couldn't keep their eyes off of him." This was said quietly, with the coldest expression Naruto had ever seen on the Uchiha's face. Stunned speechless and without enough time to even think about why the Uchiha was so hostile with that one statement, Naruto left it to Anko-sensei to quiet the class once more.

"As I was saying class, this is Gaara Sabaku, and he will be finishing the year with us. Please make him feel welcomed." The entire class murmured a respectful 'welcome' to which Gaara just nodded and waited for Anko to seat him.

Naruto, who had chosen to sulk instead of pay attention, nearly jumped when the sound of books hitting the surface of the desk next to him registered. Gathering himself, Naruto cast a furtive glance in Gaara's direction and met a cold stare once again. Turning away quickly, Naruto placed his elbow on the desk, blocking his sullen face from view, as he repeated 'he hates me' over and over again in his head.

He didn't know that Gaara's gaze had been aimed over his shoulder, at Sasuke Uchiha who was glaring right back. It was Anko-sensei's voice that finally broke their glaring contest.

"I would now like for all of you to stand up one by one and state your name loud enough for- Gaara was it?-,"she received a silent nod from the redhead before continuing, "to hear, alright? One of our students, Sai, is absent today, so I'm sure you'll have a chance to meet him tomorrow." And exactly as she asked, the students, one by one, stated their names.

Opting to stare out the window instead, Gaara took in the scenery he was sure to see for the rest of his miserable senior year. There was a surprising abundance of trees that were mostly cherry and sakura blossoms. The bright green lawns were groomed to perfection, as were the select few flowers around it. Although Gaara was reluctant to admit it, the place was ten times nicer than his old high school. His father would've loved to have been able to afford sending him here, so it was ironic that in the end, it was force, not money, that was the ticket.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Gaara refused to turn and look at him, already recognizing the cold, detached voice.

"Naruto Uzumaki." The voice next to him said, as he turned to look at the sullen blond. His blue eyes weren't focused on anything particular, but it was obvious he was avoiding all the eyes in the classroom that were surely focused on him.

"Nice to meet you." The words were out of his mouth before he even realized he'd said them and there went his hand, following those same words. Naruto's head snapped up and their eyes met.

"Y-Yeah." He said nervously, feeling three sets of eyes on him; one jealous, one envious, the other enraged. Quickly reaching out to shake his hand, Naruto looked away and sat down just as quickly. Great, another bipolar asshole, he thought as he slumped down in his chair, hoping with everything he had that the floor would open up and swallow him whole. Ino and Sakura were shooting twin glares at him, which he dodged successfully, and Sasuke was being… Sasuke.

"Well then, that's the whole class. Once again, welcome to Bijuu High School." With the introductions finished, Anko went on to teaching the class about the anatomy of the human body and how it related to the common ape and on and on she went until half the class was snoring loudly; well at least Kiba was.

Naruto and Shikamaru went for the more silent approach. However, what kept him from sleeping wasn't Kiba's snores or the occasional glares and stares sent his way, it was the elbow digging into his side repeatedly every two seconds.

"What!" Naruto hissed in a whisper. Sasuke just smirked and did it again.

"Pay attention." Opting to stick his tongue out and completely ignore his suggestion, Naruto pointedly leaned away from him and accidently bumped into the new student, earning him a scowl from Sasuke and now Gaara.

"Eh-heheh, sorry. It was the bastard's fault!" Naruto said quickly, nervously rubbing the back of his head with his right hand and awkwardly pointing at Sasuke with his left. The redhead glanced from Naruto's flushed face to Sasuke's challenging stare and back.

"Don't worry about it." He said slowly tilting his head away from the two, his jaw muscles jumping at the urge to punch the smug Uchiha in the face, but knowing he couldn't mess up this time; it was his last chance. His father had made that painfully clear. On the inside, he apologized though knowing the blonde kid- err, Naruto, couldn't hear it

"See? Now you've gone and caused a scene." Sasuke said with barely held back amusement, closing his notebook and placing his pens into his satchel. If Naruto was smart he would've glanced at the clock and known they only had five second left in class, but of course right as he opened his mouth to retort the bell rang; signaling the end first period and the beginning of second.

Just the thought of the school day not being over, was enough to make the blonde slump back into his desk and not move. That didn't last long, because soon Anko was slapping him on the back of the head for not leaving and being late for second period.

"Anko-sensei, I'm not late-" And the final bell rang. Packing up his stuff as quickly as possible, Naruto bolted, with his bright orange backpack right on his heels.

Gaara

Clocks are still useless, Gaara thought as he vaguely listened to what Shizune, the assistant principal, was yelling about over the phone. Something about toilet paper and the boys' bathroom. Gaara snorted, it was probably some lame attempt at a prank or something. Back at his school, their pranks went way past stuffing toilet rolls down the toilets and flooding the bathrooms. They spray painted graffiti all over the side of school and office buildings, drew sharpie mustaches on **all** their principals' faces, and were still able to look them in the eye the next day without laughing. Of course those were just the pranks they pulled freshman year, the ones pulled sophomore and junior year were a bit too graphic to be written in a fanfic.

Finally, slamming the phone down and ending whatever yelling contest she was participating in, Shizune plastered a smile on her face and gestured for him to approach the front desk.

"Gaara Sabaku, correct?" She asked sweetly, taking his tilt of the head as a yes, "Alright, did you have any problems with your schedule that we'll need to fix?" Gaara shook his head no and watched her type something into the computer. Seconds later a piece of paper shot out the printer and she snatched it in mid air like some ninja or something.

"Mr. Sabaku, this'll be your final schedule, okay? Just call us during school hours if you still see any problems with it." She handed him the paper, which he took impatiently, eager to get back to his fifth period class before it ended.

It was the only decent class they offered here; study hall and lunch. During study hall you sit around and decide to either study or listen to your iPod the whole class and the teachers could care less. He hadn't gotten around to lunch yet, but before he'd been called to the office to mess with his schedule, he'd been head banging to Linkin Park. Not only did he have nothing to do, but that irritating asshole was also there, along with the blonde that made him feel funny.

In every sense of the word.

Rushing back to the classroom, he sat down for only two minutes, when the bell rang signaling the beginning of lunch.

Here we go, thought Gaara, the epic where-do-I-sit-cause-I'm-new epidemic. Honestly, the red-head could care less. Speaking of seats though, he'd seen a nicely shaded area outside of the cafeteria when he'd last been window gazing, so if no one was occupying the area currently, he was definitely gonna try and snag it.

Once he entered the cafeteria, Gaara whistled lowly at how huge it was. Not only did their cafeteria look like a giant café with couches set up in random areas, but it also had different popular restaurants set up, so a student could get whatever outrageously pointless and expensive meal they wanted; from Italian to Asian foods.

Skimming the large cafeteria that was filling up pretty fast, Gaara spotted two lone vending machines. Shaking off his surprise that the snobbish school even _had _them, Gaara sped over. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, the red-head was busy debating whether or not he should spend that extra quarter on pretzels, when he was tapped on the shoulder. Glancing back over his shoulder, his eyes met the small figure of a dark haired girl. She was shyly poking her fingers together and staring at her shoes, but when she finally got up enough courage to look at him with her pale eyes, her face became beet red.

"U-Um, d-do you need help deciding?" Gaara narrowed his eyes at her, not in a mean way, but he knew in her own polite terms she was basically telling him to hurry the hell up. Finally forgoing the pretzels and saving his last quarter from the vending machine, Gaara lightly grabbed his bag of sour cream and onion lays chips, and his strawberry kiwi vitamin water.

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks though." He said, nodding down to her politely and moving past her carefully, as if she might break from even the lightest jostle. Gaara was pretty sure her name was Hinata or something.

He was stopped by a couple more girls, in which they just ogled him and compared him to a bunch of male models they worshipped and of course, Sasuke. That was getting really old, real fast. He caught a glimpse of him, once again making blonde's life a living hell, but Gaara gritted his teeth and reminded himself that it wasn't his business and that no, said blonde had not just glanced at him with a hopeful gaze, as if silently asking for some back up, because once again it wasn't his business.

He's just here to finish his final year in high school, then work for the rest of his life to hopefully pay his father back for everything he's wasted by being stupid….and existing.

Finally making it outside, Gaara was relieved to find that no one had claimed his 'shaded paradise'. Examining the tree for a split second, Gaara climbed up onto the sturdiest branch and began munching on his chips, enjoying his first moment of peace out of the whole hectic week. His peace was interrupted by two people bickering, heading his way and growing louder by the second.

He really needed to stop trying to find peace in this place. For a bunch of rich snobs, they kept it a bit too lively. Whatever happened to the typical stereotype of them thinking simple partying was too _low_ of an activity to partake in?

"I can't fucking stand him!" One voice shouted in anger, sounding vaguely familiar to Gaara's ears.

"Oh come on, Naruto, he does this to you every day. Why you think he'll one day stop, bow down, and kiss your feet is something I'll never understand." Ino. He'd recognize that condescending voice anywhere; she vaguely reminded him of his sister, which wasn't a good thing.

"That's not it, Ino." _You don't understand_ was what Naruto wanted to say add, but gave up a long time ago when it came to trying to get Ino to see and feel how he saw and felt.

"Well you do a perfect job in explaining," She only received a sigh, which she ignored and shouted, "Oi! Sakura! Over here!" Gaara watched a pink blob bob into view followed by a spiked ponytail, and a furry hoodie.

"Wow, you actually picked the perfect spot. I didn't know you were capable of such a grueling task, Ino." The smack he earned was audible and echoed off the walls of the campus, plus from the sound of the voice he'd guess the unfortunate guy with the foul mouth was that scruffy guy Kiba; Gaara was good at putting names with faces, even after just seeing them once.

It would definitely come in handy with the job interview he had coming up. He was gonna try and put his cooking skills to work as a chef for a small restaurant he found far enough away from the school, but close enough to where he lived, so he hopefully wouldn't run into anyone he knew.

"Shut up, mutt-face!"

"Hey, who was it that complained a whole class period over having to find a new spot for us? You!" Twins groans of 'here we go, again' came from the spiky ponytail, which Gaara guessed was that really sleepy kid Shikamaru, and Naruto.

"You guys should just get married already, and save us the headaches." Shikamaru mumbled around his sandwich, plucking off the disgusting tomatoes his mom insisted on putting on top of his ham. At the same time he ignored the indignant sputtering coming from Kiba and Ino, but smirked at the outrageous laughter coming from Sakura and Naruto.

"We all know dog-boy's gonna marry _his_ dog! But I'm going after that gorgeous new boy." Kiba pretended to puke directly on her and she sent another slap his way but he dodged it and mocked her by sending a toothy grin in her direction.

"Oh please, I wouldn't be surprised if he was gay, and was madly in love with our sunshine here." He said patting Naruto's head and making two parties blush, though he was only aware of one. Ino and Sakura let out unflattering squawks and settled their glares on Kiba.

"S-Shut up, Kiba! You think every guy that so much as looks at me is gay or madly in love." Naruto scowled and silently cursed Kiba to the depths of hell for even making that comment. Kiba sent his infamous grin at him.

"Well I was right with Sasuke wasn't I? He just can't keep his hands off of you! Today was a perfect example." Naruto practically turned purple the same moment a half-full vitamin water bottle came down on his head, hard enough to knock him on his ass.

Gaara scrambled to right himself on his branch, but ultimately failed and ended up following his vitamin water out of the tree and unfortunately…

…right on top of Naruto.

Ino and Sakura both screamed at the same time, momentarily fearing for their lives if the sky was falling down around them. Shikamaru snapped out his daze enough to get them to calm down, while Kiba fell on his ass cracking up at the scene that unfolded before them.

Naruto was on his back with his arms and legs splayed out across the grass, his hair fanned out above his head creating a halo effect, and his eyes were watering slightly at the impact making once sky blue eyes become oceans in a second.

Gaara heard more than felt his forehead meet the ground in 'the thud heard around the world'. Taking a moment to quell his short-lived dizziness, Gaara finally opened his eyes and almost wanted to cry. Here he was again, in some sort of body lock with the same blonde he'd been narrowly avoiding the whole day, but thanks to his second of butterfingers, he'd landed himself once again and literally, right on top of him.

The eyes that stared up at him were different from how they were earlier that day. The blue sparkled but held a hint of exhaustion, sadness, and most of all loneliness. Naruto stared at him in contemplation, as if judging his next moves carefully, just to see how the red head would react.

Finally the blonde just grinned up at him, which in his eyes was supposed to quell the awkwardness, but Gaara only felt how forced it was and how fake it looked plastered on the blonde's face. He was obviously uncomfortable, but wasn't willing to put it into words, which made Gaara feel that funny feeling again in his gut; the urge to hold him quickly being kicked out to make way for 'I need to get the hell off of him'.

Shaking his head, Gaara gently picked himself up off the blonde, apologizing the whole way, refusing to watch the grin slowly slip off his face.

"I guess this time it's my bad." He said picking up his vitamin water and tossing it in his backpack that had also fallen out of the tree with him.

"What can you say, it was an accident." Naruto said a little sadly, sitting up on his own. Instead of trying to salvage his lunch, Naruto picked it up and threw it into a nearby garage bin. Gaara inwardly winced at the wasted food, but had to accept the fact that people weren't as money conscious, or in other words cheap, as him.

"Yeah, an accident." Gaara said feeling as if that reasoning suddenly sounded inadequate.

"Well I'd say it was fate, but who the hell listens to me nowadays!" Kiba said loudly breaking the tense atmosphere with his ridiculousness. Ino spared a half-hearted laugh, but her eyes were glued on Naruto as were Sakura's, which made the blonde shift nervously from foot to foot.

"What were you doing up in a tree anyway?" Came Shikamaru's lazy inquiry that no one bothered to even question. Gaara eyebrows cocked for a second as he silently pondered the question as if asking himself the same thing.

"Hell, I couldn't tell ya. Just tryna eat my lunch." And just like that Kiba was laughing again and Ino and Sakura had stopped staring down Naruto's flushed face long enough to entertain the new boy.

Huffing under his breath, Naruto feigned not being hungry when asked why he threw his lunch away, and deciding to look off in whatever direction the redhead wasn't. He'd seen that look too many times, the one that held pity, but no action; apology, but resigned concern. He'd just be another one of his 'friends' that sat and watched. He'd totally lost his appetite.

The looking off in another direction was a bad idea, because the moment he caught Sasuke's eyes through the cafeteria doors, he'd signed his "going to have a bad day" certificate. Immediately, the Uchiha and his gang that consisted of Suigetsu, Juugo, Karin, and Neji who held a more passive stance when it came to Sasuke's antics, ditched their table and lackeys in favor of terrorizing one person.

"Looks like you can't keep your eyes off of anyone today, dobe." The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, as Naruto let it be known how much he hated that nickname.

"If it bothers you so much, teme, why bother to entertain me?" The curve of Sasuke's lips only infuriated the blonde more, as he felt more than saw his friends completely withdraw from him, only Gaara still stood outright in front of the Uchiha, his muscles popping in his jaw again.

"Because I know from experience that everything with you is manual." The double meaning was thrown in there on purpose, Naruto thought, trying his best not to physically flush. From the corner of his eyes he saw, Gaara's hands clench into fists, but he knew better than to get hopeful. There was never any rescue for him, and there wasn't going to be any now.

Sasuke stood indifferently, with an amused smirk on his face, proud of himself for some sick reason. Naruto opted to just roll his eyes, sneer, and look way. All three didn't bode well with Mr. Uchiha.

He didn't see it coming until the hand was a centimeter from his face, but in another second it was being smacked away by a hand that was too pale to belong to him.

"Don't touch him." A voice said really close to his ear, loud enough for even the once smug raven to hear, as he regarded the rejected hand like it was a foreign part of his body. Looking away from it, Sasuke sent Gaara the coldest glare to ever grace the Uchiha's features, but Gaara stood his ground and sent a glare of equal frostiness right back.

"And who's gonna make sure I don't?" Sasuke said challengingly, stepping closer as a threat. Finally Neji spoke up from the back.

"Sasuke, class is about to start; just forget about it." Sasuke surprisingly backed down after a second or two, but not in every sense of the word. Smirking in Gaara's face, Sasuke turned on his heel and spat on the grass close to Gaara's feet. Making it crystal clear that their little battle was far from over, the Uchiha 'gang' dispersed to go to their individual classes.

Naruto was staring at Gaara's back in amazement. No way, he thought as it finally registered in his brain what had happened. The first emotion that set in was relief, and the next was panic.

"You didn't have to do that," He said quickly and harshly in his attempt to gain Gaara's full attention to continue, "I could handle it on my own." Gaara's first look was confusion then it turned cold.

"I don't care. It's about time that smug asshole is taken down a couple notches." The girls weren't sure whether to find Gaara even sexier for contributing to their 'bad boy fantasy, or defend Sasuke in the name of their long term crush. Kiba chuckled nervously, and Shikamaru remained painfully silent. Naruto only shook his head; Gaara didn't understand what he was getting at.

"No, I mean they won't leave you alone now. You're on his target list." Naruto said seriously, relieved when Gaara's expression turned thoughtful, and truly dumbfounded when it then turned into a sheepish grin; the first open expression he'd seen on the redhead since he'd first met him.

"I guess old habits die hard." And Naruto, for the life of him, couldn't figure out what he meant.

"Well, looks like lunch is officially over." Kiba howled, breaking another moment that would have to be explored further by them later. Later that day, the bell finally rang signaling the end of the last period. The school day had moved entirely too slow in Naruto's opinion.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he made out of the campus doors with no further encounter with Sasuke or Gaara; Naruto silently patted himself on the back for the former. Making his way out to his precious orange baby, and noting the fact that it had rained sometime after lunch and there were huge puddles of water everywhere. Naruto planned ahead to avoid every single one; his truck didn't drive like new, and adding water damage on top of old age wasn't recommended.

Before he could even make it to his truck, however, a car passing by managed to nick a puddle right in front of the blonde at exactly the right angle, making the water come at him like piranha after bloodied meat.

Now soaking wet, Naruto didn't even bother to scream already knowing how cold he was going to be once the air hit him, nor did he squirm uncomfortably as he felt the water seep into his boxers. The blonde simply closed his eyes and breathed deeply, because he knew if he reacted right then and there, he would've been snapping necks. As soon as he opened his eyes, the air finally hit and his teeth began to chatter.

The feel of someone's bigger and bulkier jacket sliding over his lithe shoulders immediately calmed his shivers, and as he turned back to thank whoever it was. The "thanks" stopped in his throat when the only thing that greeted him was a retreating back as it got into its black BMW and sped off campus. And it was _who's_ back that held Naruto's tongue.

He now clung to Sasuke's jacket with a mix of confusion, surprise, and some funny feeling he couldn't describe, but felt the makings of a first true smile in months, crack his face in half.

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A/N: I think I deserve kudos for what I was able to scrap together haha I'm kidding, but don't be afraid to tell me what you think (no flames). Review!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Oh my god, please don't kill me! This took forever and I'm not even gonna divulge the reasons of WHY to you because quite frankly I don't deserve the sympathy (or scorn) but be glad I finally got it out! (I am!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Warnings: Dun Dun Dun!**

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Chapter 3: I can't do anything right

Naruto

Wednesday came quickly, and with it came an air of drowsiness as Naruto stared blandly at his alarm clock. It had been flashing five o'clock repeatedly since he'd silenced it without turning it off properly two hours ago.

He'd been sleeping on and off since three o' clock, tossing and turning without making any real progress; he blamed the late August air for making it too hot for him to get comfortable. Naruto refused to acknowledge the fact that he may not have gotten any sleep, due to the black leather jacket that hovered on the edge of his periphery.

And was clearly not his.

Naruto groaned as he finally gave up on sleep altogether and sat up; carelessly kicking his sheets off of him. Turning off his alarm properly, Naruto ignored the jacket politely poised on his desk chair, for the towel draped over his bedroom doorknob. He'd think about that later once he was clean and fed.

Sluggishly making his way towards his bathroom and successfully avoiding all obstructions in his path, Naruto pulled back the shower curtain and set the temperature for 'wake-up'.

At the solid age of seventeen, Naruto had been living on his own for four years. Now about to turn eighteen in October, Naruto might actually have to pay the bills for the place once his parents had no legal reason to take care of him; not that they had in the past five years. For as long as he could remember, it had been his step-uncle Iruka doing the job of both his mom and dad, but even with his mom's step brother taking care of him, Naruto was always left with the bulk of it.

Deep down he wanted to be able to rely on someone, but it seemed that with his luck, no one had ever fit such a simple description. No one really knew him, and Naruto found himself preferring it that way. He had his reasons. If that person came into his life right this minute, Naruto wouldn't be able to accept them for what they were because he was used to never getting what he wanted; no matter how much he hoped.

The face of a certain Uchiha came unbidden to Naruto and left him feeling confused and strangely hollow. Shaking the thought away, Naruto did a rush job of brushing his teeth and splashed water onto his face, hopefully ridding him of the thought stream completely. Taking his time with stripping, Naruto actually took the chance admire his physique for the first time since he'd been thirteen looking for chest hairs.

Despite his short stature, Naruto was just as sculpted as the next guy. His tan was completely natural and took over his entire body, but was cut into by the tattoo the blonde had gotten during his more rebellious phase of life. It was of a red fox with nine tails that ran horizontally across the left side of his back. It emphasized the size and definition of his muscles. It wasn't too big but it was another thing that he hadn't thought socially important to tell anyone.

Who would even care?

Pulling off his boxers gave him full view to gloat. His stomach legs and arms were toned and muscled, but still gave way to his lithe build. Naruto let his eyes trail one of the wayward fox tails that ran backwards toward his ass and immediately imagined a pale finger tracing that very same trail. Blinking rapidly Naruto jerkily tossed the towel over the rack and stepped into the shower, cringing at where his thoughts had almost gone.

"I'm not gay..." Well that didn't sound half as true as it had two days ago.

_What if you are?_ A voice inside his head questioned him.

"I-I'm not, so there is no what if. At least I don't think…" Naruto said, flinching at how lame he sounded and making quick work of soaping up his body to keep himself distracted.

_Yeah, that was lame_, the voice mocked before continuing, _but so what? So is Uchiha_.

It was at that very moment that Naruto dropped his soap, nearly slipped on it and had to catch his balance before he cracked his skull. Him being gay for Sasuke….. who was also gay?

Now that _was_ a scary thought.

…. But slightly appealing in nature, if he ever did figure out whether or not he was the g-word…

Okay, he really needed to stay out of his own head. Cutting the water off, Naruto stepped out of the shower and into his now warm and misty bathroom. Grabbing the only towel he'd brought, he quickly dried himself off and wrapped it around his waist; not caring if it sagged dangerously low on his hips as he rummaged through his drawers for some form fitting jeans.

He finally just decided on the dark wash denim jeans his parents had shipped to him directly from designer hangers in Paris. Normally he avoided all things designer because they leaked too much of his real life, but he only had himself to blame seeing as he'd failed to do his laundry again as Iruka had instructed.

Praying to god that he could drown out the jeans with a simple t-shirt, Naruto thanked the gods when he found a white one buried deep under the Abercrombie & Fitch dress shirts his mom had bought him for his birthday that he had yet to wear, and gleefully pulled the white tee over his head.

And cursed.

It was tighter than the ones he normally wore. His other shirts left a lot to the imagination and made him look like a dwarf in all his hoodies, but this shirt hugged his every muscle and showed off the pecks that he'd been ogling in the bathroom not ten minutes earlier. Staring at his reflection, Naruto seriously debated all the affects of going ahead and wearing his unfortunate ensemble.

Concluding that drooling girls surely outweighed Sasuke's inescapable habit of picking on him, Naruto forewent his usual gelled hairdo, for just a simple comb out and mussing. Grinning at his final look, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's jacket with as little touching as possible, and made his way to his kitchen for some well deserved grub.

"Lovely Ramen!" Naruto sang as he lunged for a pack of his favorite noodles and set up a pot of water to boil. While waiting, Naruto stared at the jacket which adorned the Uchiha crest on its back and even fell stiff again the back of the kitchen chair like a true Uchiha.

The blond had been seriously considering how he would go about delivering the article of clothing back to its owner with the least amount of contact possible. The reason Sasuke had even given it to him was still a mystery, but as he thought of the gesture, the same smile that had lit his face as the raven had driven off, found its way creeping back along his lips.

_Someone's in love_, the teasing voice returned and Naruto blushed viciously.

"Who would love a jerk like him!" He yelled into the emptiness of his house, realizing too late how insane he must look talking to himself. Maybe the loneliness _was_ getting to him and it was time he got a roommate. Shaking his head and brushing away the ridiculous thought, Naruto turned when he smelled rather than saw his water finally reach a boil.

With his ramen finished and him slurping away, Naruto looked at the clock for the first time since he'd woken up.

"Shit! I'm gonna be late!" He yelled, accidentally scalding his tongue in the process. Dumping the empty bowl and mentally promising to wash it when he got home from work; Naruto grabbed his bag, keys, reluctantly Sasuke's jacket, and bolted.

Sasuke

Sasuke sat stoically in his desk, seemingly staring out at the large expanse of green around the campus and the city far off into the distance, but his ears were focused on a hushed conversation going on between two of his fangirls about him and someone he'd cut out of his life two days ago.

"Did you hear about Sasuke and Sai?" The girl seemed to be holding back an endless stream of squeals because her voice was tight with excitement. Sasuke guessed the girl she was speaking to was uninformed because fangirl number one went on to explain.

"Let's just say, he's back on the market!" This time she let the squeals flow and fangirl number two was not far behind her.

Sasuke snorted silently to himself, his body barely rising with the action. Those _girls_ didn't have a chance with him. He wouldn't even give them the time of day for a quick blow job. He'd made that mistake with Sai while trying to run away from what he truly wanted and that involved sun-kissed blonde hair and ocean blue eyes…

Clearly his throat loudly, Sasuke shifted a bit in his seat before getting comfortable again. The point was that he'd gone for everything that wasn't _that_ in hopes of quelling his strange obsession, but the truth was as high school had flown by, Sasuke found himself needing _any_ and all type of contact with that person. And as lame as it was, bullying was his closest bet without giving himself away. Though the Uchiha had a sneaking suspicion that-

The first period bell rang loudly, interrupting his train of thought and thankfully, the girls' conversation too. Anko promptly stood and took role without further notice, barely blinking an eye when Naruto burst through the door right as she reached his name.

"P-Present!" Naruto panted as he struggled to dislodge his bag from the doorknob. Students, surprisingly, weren't laughing at his vain attempts while Anko gave him a heated stare. Swallowing slowly, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when his bag magically released itself from mating with the door knob; he could still feel Anko's stare, along with everyone else's, on the back of his neck while he made his way to his seat. He was used to it by now, so thought nothing of it.

Finally seated, Anko went on with the lesson, while Naruto went about his normal routine of pretending to pay attention, still oblivious to everyone's heads swiveling to face him. Huffing, Ino finally deemed the silence too overrated and spoke her mind.

"What the hell gives Naruto?" She snapped, trying to act as unaffected as possible, but the blush on her face and the way her eyes traveled downward, she wasn't doing a very good job. Naruto, still oblivious to the effect he was having on the female _and_ some of the male population, turned to face her with his head tilted to the side.

"What did I do this time Ino?" Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow, but when all Ino did was stutter, Sakura finally stepped in.

"Naruto, she's talking about your…clothes." Like a bubble popping, Naruto's face finally lost its confusion and he looked sheepish.

"I, uh, I forgot to do my laundry…" The last of the sentence trailed off awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. Ino seemed to come back to life as she glared at him.

"Liar! You don't go from a baggy dwarf to a toned, tanned, muscular-"

"We get it Ino!" Sakura said trying to rein in her friend as she practically drooled over Naruto's surprising new look. Snapping out of it once again, Ino finally gave Naruto an appraising look.

"Hmm, not bad. So who is she? Or should I say he?" Ino said, waggling her eyebrows and shooting him a mischievous look. Little did she know, her innocent question had caught the attention of Sasuke and Gaara. Naruto gaped at her and shook his head wildly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ino scoffed at his theatrics, which earned her even more gaping.

"Close your mouth, you're in the company of civilized people." Naruto mouth slowly clamped shut, but he didn't take his eyes off of her. Instead, her opted for looking at anything and everything but her. Problem with that was, his eyes connected directly with Sasuke's, who's own eyes were dancing with something he couldn't even recognize, so in an attempt to break that connection he swiveled his head in the completely opposite direction.

Only to land on turquoise, whose oceans housed curiosity and slight…. reluctance.

Slowly turning back to Ino, whose smirk was even more apparent, Naruto suddenly realized he was very much corned.

In an act of desperation, Naruto clamored to his feet which earned him twice the attention.

"Anko-sensei, can I switch seat-?" The sentence was barely out of his mouth before Ino and Sakura were yanking him back down in his chair. Ino waved Anko away before she decided to put the blonde out and as soon as all was clear she turned to Naruto with narrowed eyes.

"Are you insane?" She hissed, giving him a well earned pinch to the arm, only to have her hand linger on how smooth and hard his bicep felt. She was sure that if she asked him to flex, those muscles would pump up to twice their size-

Suddenly crossing his arms, Naruto shot Ino a weird look before warily sinking back into his chair. He knew he shouldn't have taken a chance on these clothes. He would have bought himself less attention by wearing unwashed clothes that stank.

"Are there any other new additions we should worry about?" Ino inquired, looking him dead in the eye and watching him squirm.

"N-No! This is the last and _only _new thing." Naruto stammered, putting emphasis on only, knowing Ino was a second away from bringing up the topic of a his love life again. Ino and Sakura wore twin frowns as they finally gave up and turned back towards the front, but Ino's expression left no question that he would get it as soon as she had her chance. Thankfully, Anko assigned enough class work to keep Ino busy; she didn't have a chance to bug him the whole period.

Glaring down at his notebook, Naruto debated actually changing into his gym clothes for the rest of the day, but when he heard a snort come from his right as if the bastard could read his mind, Naruto quickly squashed the idea. Glaring at him and feeling pretty bold, Naruto poked him hard in the bicep.

"Something funny, bastard?" Sasuke's eyes slowly slid towards him from gazing out the window, but instead of stopping at his face they ventured down his neck to his chest and on down. Seconds ticked by like years, until finally Sasuke came back up for air just as slowly and blue eyes met onyx filled with a heat that left Naruto slightly breathless.

"Nothing at all." Swallowing loudly and trying to cover the flush on his face, Naruto realized maybe that hadn't been such a good idea, because now he was getting that feeling again in his stomach. Sasuke smirked and turned back towards the window with a self-satisfied grunt. Folding his arms over his torso in fear that Sasuke might see his stomach doing backflips, Naruto turned away quickly with a huff. Catching a flash of red movement, Naruto looked at Gaara for the second time today but this time he didn't turn away.

Thinking back on the other day, Naruto felt the need to thank him or do… something!

Trying to get his attention was harder than he thought. Gaara's eyes were narrowed as if in deep concentration, but Naruto could tell by his tense facial muscles that he either wasn't getting the subject or he was trying his best not to react.

If the blond didn't know any better, he'd say the red-head was actually…avoiding him. After a fifth failed attempt, short of jabbing his finger into Gaara's arm, Naruto just decided to wait until after class to thank him.

The bell finally rang and Naruto was the first out his seat and packing his things. Keeping an eye on Gaara, whose face, he noticed hadn't lost its tension, Naruto was right about to follow him out when he was blocked by Ino. One look at her told him he wasn't gonna get out of this unless he promised her something.

"At lunch, okay?" Pleased with herself, she nodded, grabbed her things and skipped out the room. Back on his mission, Naruto tried to spot a tuff of red in the crowd leaving the classroom, but right as he got to the door, ready to peek his head out, a warm breath hit his ear causing him to careen to the side and away from the unexpected contact.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto panted, putting a hand to his heart to slow its frightened beating. Sasuke just stood above him with a crooked smirk, waiting for him to calm down.

"Did you plan on keeping it, dobe?" Eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, Naruto nearly tripped over himself when he realized what the Uchiha was talking about.

"As if!" He said quickly, turning to pick up his bag and avoiding Sasuke's gaze. "It's in my locker, asshole. I just figured you wouldn't want rumors spreading if I walked into class wear-_carrying_ it." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his slip, but Naruto just shrugged trying to play it off casually. "Now, if you don't mind…" He tried to move around Sasuke's larger frame but only succeeded in getting firmly pinned against the wall.

Sasuke's face hovered dangerously close to his and Naruto stared up at him in irritation, his blush quelling his intimidation factor.

"Move, Uchiha." Sasuke just smirked wider, and if anything moved closer. "I'm serious, get outta the way!" Naruto said, wincing when the end of it came out as a whine.

"Who're trying to impress?" Sasuke asked mocking his outfit as his eyes roved up and down his body again. "If you wanted my attention, you could've just asked." Naruto wasn't mistaken when he heard the slight edge in Sasuke's voice, but he was too agitated to acknowledge it as anything more.

"Please! The only thing I am to you is a daily punching bag!" Naruto finally shoved his way past Sasuke and left the classroom, knowing that he'd only have time to go straight to his locker then straight to class. Sasuke just followed him, earning the two stares, pointing and whispers.

"Hey, check it out-!"

"Whoever that is, he's hot!"

"No wonder he broke up with Sai-!" That statement made Naruto stop in his murderous trek towards his locker, and turn disbelievingly towards Sasuke. Having a clear view of his face, the whispers got even louder.

"No way! Is that Naruto-?"

"Daamn, he cleans up nice-!" Throughout all this chaos, Naruto's eyes never left Sasuke's bored ones. The Uchiha simply stood with his hands stuffed lazily in his pockets and a bored expression on his face, while Naruto's stunned stare slowly morphed into an enraged glare.

"So that's why." Naruto said quietly, not caring whether or not the Uchiha could hear him. The only reason he hadn't gotten a face plant today, was because Sasuke had dumped one toy and was hoping to land another one in the same day. He didn't know what to call it, but whatever feeling had filled him as the day went on, suddenly left him feeling very empty. Nodding slowly to himself, Naruto turned away from the direction of his locker and silently left Sasuke standing there, knowing not to follow.

"Naruto." Sasuke said softly, in a small attempt to get him to stop.

But Naruto didn't look at him as he passed, if he had, he would've noticed the long crack that ran along the Uchiha's mask for an instant…

…but vanished just as fast.

Gaara

God, the clocks in this school are slow as hell, Gaara thought as he ignored everything the teacher tried to shove in his face in an attempt to please Kabuto's orders. But Gaara wasn't taking this shit, sure he'd stay out of trouble, but Kabuto should know that he wasn't exactly a genius which was why despite the fact his family couldn't afford to send him here, he wouldn't have gotten in anyway because he wasn't smart enough.

He was never good enough for any of that.

Rolling his eyes at where his train of thought led him, Gaara settled back down into his chair and resumed cursing the clock for its slowness.

"Mr. Sabaku, please listen to me. I can't help you if you refuse to take my advice." The teacher begged him uselessly, trying to stress his point with random gestures and snapping the papers in his hands against the desk a few times.

"I don't need a tutor." Gaara snapped, gripping the front of the desk in his hands about to forego waiting on the school bell to ring. The teacher didn't even need to be doing this when he could just be getting ready to start his next class. He now regretted rushing out of first period like an idiot. Why he did that, he had no idea; all he knew was that as soon as he'd watch that prick eye Naruto like some piece of meat-

The bell rang, and not a moment too late. Breathing deeply, Gaara released the abused desk top, and felt more than saw the teacher's impatience grow.

"This talk isn't over, and you will need a tutor if you expect Mr. Kabuto to allow you to graduate." Shit, Gaara thought, resisting the urge to stick his tongue when the teacher left with a triumphant glare over his shoulder. Well now he was gonna _have_ to get a tutor, hopefully one that was a hopeless geek he could easily manipulate to do his homework _for_ him; of his own free will of course.

As student began to fill the second period class, a sense of déjà vu fell over him as he heard the volume of voices pick up.

"Naruto, dude, what's with the sudden change in wardrobe?" Kiba voice reverberated through the room loudly drawing everyone's attention towards the subject. Naruto slapped on a grin and rubbed the back of head, which Gaara was starting to suspect wasn't a habit at all, but a sign of how tense he really was; there was no doubt in Gaara's mind that the grin was fake.

"Eh, I had no clean clothes." He said simply, which earned him a bark of laughter from Kiba, which was quickly silenced by that quiet girl…Hinata right? Shikamaru just grunted and muttered his usual 'troublesome' before plopping down in a desk and laying his head on it.

"Naruto, can I speak to you for a moment?" Gaara's ears perked up when he heard that same teacher's voice beckon Naruto over quietly, but when that same guy turned towards him and pointed, all Gaara could think was, oh hell no.

Trying, but failing to duck in time, Gaara was forced to send an awkward nod their way when Naruto turned towards him, following the teacher's finger. The slight widening of his eyes spoke volumes, as he turned back to the teacher and began to talk in a rush and the teacher's face went through four different expressions all at once.

"What do you mean? I thought you'd be perfect for this." The teacher said, confused as to why Naruto of all people would try to decline.

"I mean, I don't think I'd be the best choice Iruka." Naruto began, trying to avoid the real reason but confused at himself because not ten minutes ago he was desperately looking to thank him. "I just think there might be other students better suited, besides I have to work and-"

"Don't you give me that Naruto Arashi Uzumaki! You and I both know that you don't even need to work," Naruto shushed him quickly, "_and_ there's more than enough room in your schedule to help out a fellow student."

"But _him_?" Naruto whined and immediately regretted it at the curious stare Iruka gave him. Knowing he didn't want to divulge anymore of what he was really thinking, Naruto's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fine, but you'll have to buy me twice as much ramen. I'm practically starving myself! They ran out so fast." Iruka just smiled at him and nodded, pushing him towards Gaara eagerly.

The red-head watched him approach slowly with a neutral expression. He wasn't going to say anything unnecessary; he was just going to try his hardest to get out of the torture that Kabuto was unknowingly putting him through. Naruto finally reached him, and his hand went straight up to the back of his head as if on instinct, and Gaara suddenly pictured himself yanking that hand out from behind his head and slamming it on the desk.

"S-So, uh, how's it going?" That was a stupid question, and Naruto knew it, so the moment it came out of his mouth he nearly leapt forward to try and catch it. Gaara however either didn't catch the cliché or choose to ignore it.

"You don't have to tutor me if you don't want to." He said bluntly, cutting straight to the point leaving Naruto gaping at him.

"What? I-I didn't mean that!" He sputtered helplessly for a couple seconds before just shutting up and glaring at the floor. "I…I just didn't think that was exactly what you wanted…" Naruto finally said when the hole he'd made in the floor with his eyes was deep enough. Gaara sighed, wanting to punch himself for making him feel that way. Finally opting to just suck it up, Gaara just shrugged and shot him a lazy crooked smile.

"At the moment, I'm not getting anything I want, but I guess if it's gonna be anyone tutoring me, it might as well be you." Naruto looked up quickly, startling Gaara for a split second, but he didn't know that the blonde was assessing his word choice to see if he was implying that he knew Naruto was smarter than he led on to be. Deeming him safe with an indiscreet nod, Naruto grinned again, making Gaara want to cringe.

Looks like he'll have to get used to the forced fakeness too.

"So, when do you want to do this?" Naruto asked, timidly taking the seat next to Gaara, and when Gaara just nodded in acceptance, he took that as a sign that maybe, just maybe they could have a friendship a bit truer than the ones he's scrounged up thus far.

"Anytime right now, but I gotta tell ya, today's my first day at work so depending on how that goes will determine how 'free' I am." Naruto nodded, curious to know where it was he had applied but not wanting to come off as nosey and invade his life.

"Well I work today also, but I'm usually never busy on the weekends, so would that be okay?" Gaara glanced at him with a look he couldn't recognize before turning away and grabbing a wayward piece of paper and a pen. Silently handing it over, Gaara didn't need to say anything for Naruto to understand what he wanted.

Scribbling something down quickly, Naruto handed it back and waited for him to stuff it back into his bag, "Oh, by the way, I never did say uh, thanks. For the other day…" Naruto trailed off awkwardly.

"Don't mention it." Gaara finally said, noting to himself that Naruto had only written his number, not his address, and turned to glance at him over his shoulder. "Really, don't." Naruto frowned a little at that last statement, but grinned nonetheless, determined to let it blow right over him.

"No problem."

Naruto

The final bell rang and with it carried the sound of hundreds of students milling about either headed for their cars or the buses. Naruto was part of the few that lingered on the school grounds. Even though it was against every fiber of his being, Naruto stood at his locker clutching Sasuke's infamous leather jacket glancing up and down the hall every now and then trying to catch a glimpse of him.

He had refused to even look at the Uchiha since their confrontation earlier despite his failed attempts to catch the blonde's attention. Sasuke had even tried to corner him again, but quickly found that too many people had been paying attention. Naruto grinned at the memory of Kiba roughly bumping into the Uchiha and then casting him a lame 'sorry' before dragging Naruto away.

It seemed his friends were finally beginning to make an effort ever since Gaara took the first stand. It was their own little way of making up for the past, even though they still didn't confront Sasuke directly; not like Gaara did at least.

Damn the social hierarchy.

Blowing a light blonde strand out of his face, Naruto looked down the hallway again with an impatient frown.

"Fucking Uchiha, probably laughing at me right now for making me wait for his too-good ass." Glaring down at the jacket as if it was its fault, Naruto roughly pulled his locker back open and shoved the hunk of leather back inside. Before he could hear the satisfying slam of his locker, a firm pale hand gripped it open.

Not wanting to turn around at all, Naruto took the deepest breath before turning around and coming face to face with smug dark irises.

"Took you long enough," Naruto grumbled, looking away when an all-too-knowing smirk graced the taller male's features, "You're lucky I didn't make the snap decision to burn your shit." Naruto snapped when Sasuke made no move for the jacket or away from him at all. If anything he just got closer. Feeling the heat radiating off of the body in front of him made Naruto's heart speed up against his will.

"Say something, basta-!" Naruto was cut off suddenly by hands gripping his hair tightly and pulling him forward to meet soft warm lips. Before he could even register the sudden gesture, Sasuke was already pulling away, licking his lips for good measure.

"Yeah, I am lucky." Grabbing his jacket out of the frozen blonde's locker, Sasuke folded it neatly across his arm. Bending down towards Naruto's face again, ignoring his attempt to lean away, Sasuke captured his face in his hands and forced him to look directly into his eyes. Naruto finally snapped out of it.

"Let go of me! What the fuck is your problem?" He was flailing his arms and trying to slap the smugness right off Sasuke's face, while the Uchiha stood silently taking all the abuse, "I don't get you! One minute your making me feel like the lowest creature on the planet and the next you're _molesting_ me! I'm so sick of you-!"

He was cut off again by the same pair of lips. The thought: he should've seen _that_ coming crossed his mind, but was silenced by the nature of this second kiss alone.

Sasuke cupped his face gently as he slowly moved his lips against Naruto's slightly chapped ones. This was different than the first, which was rushed and used only to silence the blonde. The second kiss was soft and gentle making Naruto's legs slightly buckle as Sasuke nipped and sucked on his bottom lip. The blonde soon found himself responding to the kiss, knowing that he'd later claim it was hypnosis.

As the kiss continued, Sasuke hands trailed from his face down his sides to his hips while Naruto's arms wound themselves around the Uchiha's neck as the kiss grew more heated. (Think things are going too fast? Hah) One particularly hard suck caused Naruto to moan loudly and the echo that bounced off the walls hit him square in the face.

Pushing Sasuke away from him roughly, Naruto wiped his sleeve across his mouth a couple _hundred_ times before glaring at the raven.

"What _possessed_ you to do that!" Naruto screeched, his face flushing a bright red when Sasuke finally caught his baring and Naruto saw how bruised his lips were from the kiss.

"You aren't just a punching bag to me."

"_What_!" Sasuke sighed loudly, knowing he wasn't going to get through to the blonde unless it was with a wooden stick.

"I said: you aren't just a punching bag to me." Calm enough to understand what he meant, Naruto resisted the urge to scream and instead opted for glaring in a silent demand for Sasuke to continue. Taking the hint, Sasuke crept as close as the blonde would allow, stepping past his leather jacket that had fallen to the floor when Naruto had pushed him.

"I want you," he said, making Naruto's face match the red Christmas sweater his mother had sent Itachi and ended up in the fire place, "I've _always_ wanted you as more than that. I'm just making it clear to you; now that it's become clear to me." Naruto heart hit his ribcage with such force it knocked the breath right out of him. How was he supposed to respond to that? After all those years of torment? Did Sasuke really think it was gonna be that easy?

"Fuck you." Naruto said harshly, finally turning around to slam his locker closed, the sound of it not as satisfying as he would've liked.

"Give me the time and place and I'll make that happen." Sasuke said smirking, leather jacket in hand. God he would never give up.

"Like you made it happen with Sai?" Naruto said smug when Sasuke's expression turned dark.

"You want to know what really happened?"

"No thanks." Naruto said sharply, turning away from the Uchiha and right as he was about to turn the corner he heard something that almost made him stop; almost.

"Order up, Naruto!" Naruto wiped the sweat off of his eyebrow and turned toward the freshly prepared tray of food.

"Thanks Teuchi!" Delivering the orders in record time despite how crowded the place was on a Wednesday night, Naruto went back to the chefs' counter to wait on the next orders.

"Maa, ojiisan when are you gonna get another chef around the place? We've been getting swamped in here every since Ayame left." The old man who was the owner of Ichiraku restaurant just laughed, still focused on ringing out the new batch of odon noodles.

"Well whatdya expect? My granddaughter was the only other person even half as good at making noodles! She learned-."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, she learned from the best, but seriously, when are you gonna get some help around here?"

"Way ahead of you brat! I've got a kid coming in here for an interview as we speak." Naruto tilted his head at the word 'kid' thinking it was another student like him.

"Is he another student?" Naruto asked curiously, wondering why something about this situation should click but wasn't.

"Yeah, actually goes to your school believe it or not. You can't get any of those other snot nosed kids to work for a living! Order up!" Grabbing slightly hot bowls full of broth he did not want on his hands at any time, Naruto quickly delivered it to table five which was located closer to the front door.

Ichiraku was a small establishment despite the large sum of money they brought in and the huge customer demand. It had started out as a cozy coffee shop before old man Teuchi got a hold of it. The last owner had been going out of business and practically gave it to him.

Setting it up as a small ramen stand soon became insufficient once word got out about his amazing skills as a chef. Naruto grinned sheepishly at the memory of him blabbing his mouth to anyone who would listen when he was younger and had first discovered the stand in its early days of business.

There were only ten tables spread evenly throughout the place; the chairs coming up high and the tables even higher to prevent fatal spills. The setting of the place was completely Asian and starting from closest to the front entrance, pictures of famous chefs making noodles all the way from the Han Dynasty followed the walls all the way towards the back where the kitchen was located and only employees were allowed.

The food was great and the pay was even better; old man Teuchi sure raked it in.

The bell above the front entrance door tinkled softly and Naruto turned away from the couple he'd just served to greet the new comer.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's, where would you like to be seat-WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Naruto yelled in shock pointing at the supposed 'customer' square in the chest, drawing attention from some of the newer customers that weren't yet used to his random outbursts. Gaara glared at the offending finger balefully before glancing at Naruto attire and groaning loudly.

"Please don't tell me you work here." Naruto glared at him and crossed his arms defensively.

"Fine, I won't." Gaara sighed, watching Naruto walk off toward the back where he guessed the kitchen was when he heard 'Order up!' come from in that direction.

"Well I can't back out now." Gaara mumbled to himself, praying to the gods that he didn't actually land the job. It seemed the blonde kept popping up in his life at the most unnecessary times. But, Gaara thought, looking him over as he watched Naruto deliver heavy trays filled with food swiftly and efficiently whilst still managing to mingle with the customers, he's definitely in his element here.

Smiling despite himself, Gaara waited to catch the owner's eye and when Teuchi saw him, Gaara prayed to the gods something entirely different.

An hour later, Teuchi threw an apron at a stunned Gaara and stood with a grin.

"Congrats, you've got the job." A little surprised, Gaara shook the old man's hand slowly and followed him out of his office. As they made their way back into the main restaurant, Teuchi talking about what the training process was going to be like, Gaara caught Naruto's eye from across the room right after the blonde had successfully delivered a meal and was heading back toward the kitchen.

The knowing grin the blonde sent him hit him like a ton of bricks.

This blonde-kid was slowly becoming something more than just annoying, but Gaara's reluctance to get into anything kept him from figuring out exactly what _that_ was.

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A/N: Did you like it? Comment, Review, Do what you do! Thanks.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So I've finally updated! It took forever fo rme to get back in the grove of where this story was heading, especially since I forgot that it actually wasn't heading in any planned direction. If you need to reread the previous three chapters, I would encourage. I know I had to several times. Hope I haven't lost all of my readers, regardless, I'm still writing for you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Warnings: Drama, Drama, Drama and a dash of OOC-ness**

* * *

Chapter 4: I'm difficult, Hard to please

Gaara

Everything seemed so surreal. One moment he was doing his damn near hardest to avoid what could possibly be the undoing of all his great progress as a recovering delinquent, and the next he was working alongside _him_.

"Jesus, does he ever get tired?" Gaara muttered to himself as he watched, from the office window, Naruto bolt from table to table, taking orders, fulfilling requests, dishing out meals, and overall giving the redhead a huge headache. Why couldn't things be simple in his life? Fate was always messing with him.

"Gaara!" The redhead turned at the call of his name, nodding at Teuchi who waved him over. The old man had had him sitting in his office, while he got together all the necessary materials to begin the training process. He hadn't seen Naruto since Teuchi had announced his recent acquisition of the title assistant chef. Honestly he was kinda glad for it. Nothing against the blond, but focus didn't come as easy when they were in…close proximity.

"Alright," Teuchi began, "what all do you know about making noodles from scratch?" He asked casually, though Gaara knew better than to take this as a light question.

"I know the basics." He answered simply. Teuchi smiled lightly patting Gaara on the back.

"Great! Cause that's all you really need to know. It only gets complicated when chefs are out to make signature dishes." He winked at the redhead and pulled out several ingredients.

"For now, I just want to see your technique, and tweak it if I find it necessary. You ready?" Gaara let a small smirk slip, Teuchi thankfully made him feel at ease in this new job.

"Let's do it." And they got to work.

Naruto

"Phew! I am pooped!" He exclaimed, draping himself across the small lounge chair Teuchi had added a couple of years ago to go with his ever changing menu. When coffee was added, it almost became a requirement for there to be a slight café setting in conjunction.

"Getting old brat?" Teuchi goaded from inside the kitchen, grinning through the wide order window while cleaning his hands on a wash towel.

"Eh? You wish old fart! I didn't want to tell you this, but some customers were _complaining_ about how SLOW the food- Hey!" Teuchi had launched the towels through the window and it hit Naruto square in the face.

"That's what you get for talkin' smack, brat. Gaara and I held our own." Teuchi chuckled unaware of the effect the newcomer's spoken name had on the blonde. Sitting up quickly, Naruto fixed his uniform and brushed his fingers through his hair trying to rid it of tangles. Then realizing what he was doing, Naruto huffed loudly, ruffling his hair back up to undo his previous primping.

"Thanks." Came the disembodied voice of Gaara from some part of the kitchen Naruto couldn't see. He heard the sound of dishes clinking and so assumed the redhead was washing up the dishes, which reminded him of his duty to sweep, mop, and then lock up the store. Teuchi always left that stuff up to him; he at least acknowledged that he was too old to rely on his own memory every night.

As if right on cue, he heard Teuchi leaving the kitchen, grabbing his coat and keys, "Alright kid, close up shop tight and don't miss any spots-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, get outta here you workaholic. Tell Ayame I said Hi!" Naruto said grinning, holding the door open for the old man as he passed. Naruto watched him climb into his 1977 Oldsmobile. He did this every night, made sure he got in safely until he drove away. This wasn't exactly the best neighborhood in town seeing as how long Ichiraku's had actually been here.

Seeing that Teuchi was long gone, Naruto turned back to the work at hand and instead came face to face with a rather hard chest.

"Mrmophf!" Naruto's sound of shock came out as a muffled grunt. Gaara's own grunt mingled with his own as the collision sent both of them a few steps back. Once again, steadying the both of them, Gaara inwardly groaned at the close proximity.

"Sorry about that. I thought you heard me call you." Finally balanced, Naruto glanced at him questioningly, establishing a little more distance between his face and the redhead's chest.

"Um, what'd you need?"

"Something to do. I finished the dishes a while ago."

"Ah. Gotcha." Naruto nodded thoughtfully to himself for a moment, trying to come up with something. All that was left to do was sweep, mop and lock up, the rest of the staff had already left-

Oh god. They were alone. With each other. How had he not realized that?

Heart suddenly hammering, Naruto glanced around unsure of what to say. Finally Gaara spoke up.

"Is there anything you have left to do?" Naruto stared at him, almost confused, then snapped out of it.

"Oh yeah! Sorry, um, I still have to sweep and mop-"

"I'll help then." Gaara said simply. Cutting off whatever nervous rant he knew the blonde was going to go into and most likely end with a 'but it's fine, I can do it on my own' statement. Naruto watched dumbly as Gaara disappeared into the back and came back with a broom, mop and bucket. Gaara silently held out the broom to the statuesque blonde, and Naruto quickly took it, going back into employee mode.

He made quick work of the lobby and lounge with Gaara's help as he moved chairs and held up tables for the blonde to get underneath. When the responsibilities switched, with Gaara mopping, and Naruto moving the carpets, and wiping down the counters, they finished in about fifteen minutes flat.

Grabbing up the broom, Naruto reached for the mop and was left standing dumbly when his hand grasped air, as Gaara swiftly grabbed it, already heading to the back storage room.

"Hey, I could've taken it." Naruto said, a little miffed.

"You don't have to carry everything yourself." Was the short reply he got, which only worked to annoy the blonde.

"You did," Naruto muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing!" Naruto said quickly as he followed Gaara to the back. Placing the broom in the far corner, he was about to walk out when he caught Gaara staring at a framed picture, hung up on the wall close to the coolers.

"That you?" He asked. Naruto squinted at him, trying to read any mocking tone in it. Finding none, he turned his squinting eyes up at the picture. It was him. It was a picture of him sitting on a stool in the earlier years of Ichiraku, and he had an arm slung over Teuchi's shoulders, grinning widely at the camera.

"Aha, yeah that's me, around when I first discovered Ichiraku's. It was just a stand back then." Naruto said wistfully reminiscing about his past. Gaara glanced over the picture a little longer before silently leading the two out of the storage room. Hmm. Now that got Naruto thinking. Maybe he could ask Gaara his own little, teensy weensy question.

"Hey…" He began awkwardly, when he saw Gaara's slight head tilt in his direction, signaling he was listening, Naruto bravely plowed ahead, "Are we friends?" Naruto cringed. THAT was not what he meant to ask. He was going for something WAY more neutral and common like, 'How'd you like your first day?' Stumbling over his words in a rush to correct himself, he was interrupted by Gaara's answer. Keeping his eyes glued on the floor, Naruto just waited for hell's fires to lap him up by the ankles and free him from certain embarrassment.

"Define…friends." Gaara said slowly, surprisingly close to Naruto's ears. He hadn't realized Gaara had stopped right in the center of the lobby, so when his head shot up, he was met by the most intense, serious gaze he'd ever been pinned with before. It made him feel exposed; nervous.

"I-I dunno," At the sight of Gaara's eyebrows furrowing, Naruto stumbled on, "I-I mean, friends hang out? Right? And get to know each other, I guess. Talk to one another when the other's upset and vice versa…" he trailed off, feeling as if he'd lost his audience, and quite frankly where he was going with his explanation.

"It was a stupid question!" Naruto said grinning and rubbing the back of his neck….

…that was until Gaara snatched his hand from his hair and got right in his face. Breath ghosting over Naruto's lips in a way that was unpleasantly familiar. The feel of demanding lips crushing his own not even hours earlier that day was like a bucket of cold water on Naruto's nerves. He'd forgotten about it completely when he'd gotten into his work flow.

Swallowing loudly to stifle the sudden uncomfortable atmosphere, Naruto allowed his eyes to meet Gaara's. And relaxed slightly, when his expression wasn't tense it was just, focused was the best word he could use to describe it.

"Don't do that," Gaara said quietly, as if he was purposefully keeping the conversation solely between him and Naruto, "If we're gonna be," he hesitated, "friends, you can't do that." Naruto would've smiled outright if it weren't for the fact that he had absolutely no idea as to what Gaara was talking about.

"Do what? What am I doing?"

"Forcing yourself to be okay, when you're not." He said this quickly, holding Naruto's gaze for another fraction of a second, before slowly releasing his hand. Not waiting for Naruto to respond, Gaara turned on his heel and disappeared again, this time into the kitchen. He emerged again with both his and Naruto's bags in hand. Silently handing the blond his property, Gaara threw his over his shoulder with little effort, while Naruto still stood puzzled, bag in hand.

"I still don't follow you, Gaara." Naruto didn't say his name often, but when he did it sounded like he was speaking a foreign language. It caught his attention unlike any other word.

"Think about it." And the redhead said it in such a way that left no more room for questions. If Naruto couldn't figure it out then Gaara wasn't going to spell it out for him. Pouting lightly as he watched Gaara turn out all the lights, Naruto threw his own bag on after taking out the store keys.

"You and your double standards." He muttered, letting Gaara exit before him and shutting the door. Twisting the keys, he heard the lock click and placed the keys back into his bag.

"Comes with the friendship," was Gaara's rather late reply and the only response that got was a half-hearted huff from Naruto, making Gaara smirk despite himself. Naruto caught it.

"Well if I've got things off limits in this _relationship_ I think I am entitled to the same priviledge." Naruto said haughtily, causing Gaara to quirk an eyebrow in amusement.

"And what's that?"

"Stop smirking. I associate smirks with assholes."

"Nicely put." And there was an agreement in those words that both were able to read.

Sasuke

What the hell was going on?

Naruto and Gaara were talking to each other, Naruto more so than the redhead, but it was never ending! He wanted so badly, to just snatch the blonde up by the collar and haul his ass out of the classroom. What was worse was that he couldn't hear what was being said.

And then the blonde laughed, and Gaara chuckled next to him.

He'd had enough.

"Mind keeping it down?" Sasuke drawled lazily, not even turning his eyes to look at them directly. He just kept right on taking the notes Anko had written on the board. And kept writing, puzzled when he still hadn't received a retort. Without being able to help himself, he chanced a glance at the blonde next to him. His eyes widened a fraction before hardening.

Gaara had his hand held over Naruto's mouth, the other wrapped around his arms and torse to keep the blonde from launching himself at the raven no doubt. There wasn't really anyone else around to keep the blonde in check seeing as his normal hoard of friends had opted to go to the library to put together the projects they had in other classes. Now, under normal circumstance this would've made the Uchiha snort in amusement, however, his eyes stayed glued on the arm Gaara had wrapped around Naruto.

The anger that filled him, was so swift, he had to use every ounce of his control to not follow the overpowering urge he had to squish Gaara's face into the linoleum. So he settled for his signature Uchiha glare, pumping more venom and acid into the single dose, even someone as stoic as Gaara would feel the prick of it down his back.

He watched as Gaara slowly lifted his stare to meet his glare directly, "Problem?" He asked casually enough, making Sasuke grit his teeth.

"As a matter of fact, yes," saying this as he stood up from his desk, Sasuke's tone took on that of boredom, "you're disturbing me. So move." The Uchiha wasn't dumb. He knew the redhead wouldn't move, so it was a fight he was hoping to get as he boldly towered over the two. Naruto was flailing wildly now, no doubt trying in vain, to stop the confrontation from getting physical.

The ball was in Gaara's court now, so it was to Sasuke utter surprise, amazement, and disappointment, when Gaara simply rose from his seat, dragging a still-muted Naruto along with him. Eyes twitching in annoyance, and his agitation increasing by the second, Sasuke brazenly decided to risk his reputation.

"You can leave Naruto here. _You're_ the disturbance." He said smugly, knowing for sure Gaara wouldn't brush that off as easily. He watched Gaara stop in his tracks, back tensing up as if he was powering up for a swing, and then as if someone poked him with a needle, he slowly began to deflate.

Now Sauske was just plain confused. He hadn't mistaken the boy for a fighter the very first day their eyes met. There had been a challenge in them, and no fear of consequences. So what the hell gives? He saw Gaara and Naruto exchange glances, before the blonde slowly nodded. And just like that, Gaara released him, spared Sasuke an icy glare over his shoulder and casually walked over to the couches in the corner. Anko had been long done with her lesson, and paid them no attention.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Sasuke was pulled out of his one-sided glaring contest by Naruto's harsh voice.

"Him." Sasuke said shortly, stiffly returning to his seat. Naruto followed him, with an air of annoyance. Should've known that wasn't going to shut him up for long.

"What about him, bastard? He's done nothing to you!" Naruto almost yelled, momentarily forgetting where he was and _who_ he was yelling at. Sasuke could tell that this was a conversation that they were either going to have to postpone or…

…change locations.

Grabbing Naruto by the collar abruptly, Sasuke dragged him out of the classroom and into the hallway, mumbling something to Anko about going to the nurse. He'd felt Gaara's fierce eyes on his back. He'd have to find out later what kept the prick from rising to a fight.

"Where the fuck-!" Naruto was cut off as Sasuke shoved him into the bathroom farthest down the hall from the classroom. In case, Gaara decided to follow them after all. Pinning Naruto to the nearest wall, Sasuke practically snarled in his face.

"Did nothing I say, make a fucking dent in that thick skull of yours?"

Taken aback, Naruto angrily pushed on his chest, to no avail; the Uchiha didn't even budge.

"Which part? The one where you molested me? Or the one where you kissed me against my will? I wasn't aware we were having a _conversation_!" Naruto hissed, pushing against Sasuke's chest again pointlessly.

"Give up the act, dobe because, you. Remember. Everything." They just stared at each other for what felt like twenty minutes but was only seconds. Naruto was flushed with anger and adrenaline, not wanting to acknowledge the truth of the Uchiha's words. Sasuke on the other hand was seemingly calm on the outside, but if the steel grip he had on Naruto's collar was any indication, he was on the edge.

And just like that, Sasuke was lunging for his lips again, and Naruto found himself allowing it.

Gaara

"Damn woman," Gaara grumbled as he hurried down the hallway, looking for a tuft of blonde anywhere. He'd tried following after the Uchiha the minute they had disappeared through the door, overhearing the lame-ass excuse he'd fed Anko. She didn't even bat an eye, so it came as a surprise, Gaara gritted his teeth at the memory, when he went to leave, she'd stopped him.

"Sorry, Sabaku. Can't let you leave class." Gaara stared unbelievingly at her.

"And why the hell- heck not?" Gaara nearly shouted, drawing the attention of the few students who hadn't opted to go to the library. Lowering his voice at Anko's narrowed eyes, he continued, "You just let them walk out."

Straightening up, Anko cleared her throat and spoke very slowly as if Gaara was a very slow child that needed extra help understanding simple concepts, "That's because they are not on academic probation, or any kind of probation for that matter." Gaara winced. Okay, she had a good point, but Gaara wasn't going to let that stop him.

"I'm going to throw up."

"What?"

"I'm going to puke all over you, your desk, your nice new shoes that I'm sure cost at least a quarter of your paycheck-"

"Just shut up and go, Sabaku!" Anko said, full of irritation, waving him away as if he smelled rank. Gaara took his chance and calmly walked out of the classroom…

…and broke into a run.

He didn't know where this sudden urgency came from. He just knew he had to find Naruto. Their relationship had done a complete one-eighty after they had seemed to find common ground that night at Ichiraku's. Although their deepest darkest secrets weren't spilled to one another, Gaara had finally gotten a condensed history of the blonde's relationship with the Uchiha. How someone could be so backwards was beyond Gaara's expertise of punching faces.

Speaking of which, that was one thing he had revealed to the blonde. That he was a delinquent and couldn't risk getting into another fight. He didn't tell him why of course, but found himself cutting the blonde some slack because he _was_ volunteering to be his tutor after all.

Pausing in his stride to glance into the first bathroom he came across, Gaara cursed when he realized the Uchiha must've taken him pretty far. Then he smirked, realizing his only reason for doing so was to avoid yours truly. Swivling his head up and down the hallway, Gaara noted bathrooms on the far ends of each hallway that seemed the most probable.

Question was which end to check first.

Closing his eyes, and refusing to acknowledge how childish he was for what he was about to do, Gaara spun around quickly and stopped himself at exactly five spins. Slightly dizzy, Gaara set off towards the end of the hallway he ended up facing.

As he got closer, he heard what sounded distinctly like a cry. Or distress or shock, Gaara couldn't pinpoint, all he knew was that it definitely was Naruto. He felt his heartbeat skip as, without his permission, his mind offered him several scenarios of Sasuke causing Naruto bodily harm.

Finally reaching the bathroom, Gaara barged in.

And stopped dead in his tracks. Heart frozen in his chest, brain shutting down, Gaara just stood in the doorway, his hands hanging limply by his sides.

He watched as Naruto attempted to break away from Sasuke, eyes wide with shock at Gaara's sudden appearance. However, Sasuke wasn't having it as he just moved his hands lower down Naruto's abdomen, sucking harshly on his neck. Gaara could see the multiple bruises already beginning to form on Naruto's tan skin.

"Sasuke stop! Gaara wait-!" He was cut off by Sasuke's lips again. Gaara watched with a strange sort of numbness. He couldn't get his body to react the way he wanted it to. This scene shouldn't bother him. Naruto wasn't hurt, he was just getting some. So why…

…why did he feel like punching every wall that existed around him at that moment? Sasuke included.

He didn't hear Naruto's urgent voice. He didn't feel his hands ball up so tightly his knuckles turned white. And he didn't see sense any longer.

All he saw was red, and the next thing he knew, he was practically flying through the air, eyes locked onto the exposed back of the Uchiha who continued to obliviously ravage Naruto's skin. Some small voice in the back of his head warned that the Uchiha was not moving because he wanted to be hit, but Gaara ignored it.

It all happened so fast. A split second before Gaara's fist made contact, Naruto had finally broken away from Sasuke…

…and stepped right in his line of fire.

The resounding crack that bounced off the bathroom walls was deafening. The silence that followed even more so. Three things happened at once. First, Sasuke lost his cool for the first time in his eighteen years of life, pushing Gaara so hard, the redhead stumbled and flew to the ground, and the moment his head bounced off the floor, Sasuke was on top of him. Second, before he could land more than one hit, Naruto was yanking him off, pulling him as far away from Gaara as he possibly could.

There was worry and anxiety welled up his eyes, but one thing Gaara didn't see as their eyes met was hate or pain. He didn't have time to be confused. Sasuke spewed curse after curse at him, barley able to restrain himself short of knocking Naruto to the ground just to get back at him.

Once Naruto pushed him far enough away, Sasuke had the strangest moment of clarity as his curses came so a halt. Gaara watched as Sasuke's eyes rested on Naruto's quickly swelling eye. The look on his face was so soft as he gently cradled Naruto face in his hands, careful not to place too much pressure near his eye.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered to the blonde. Gaara could tell Naruto was speechless as he stared up at Sasuke. Gaara could stomach the scene, but the minute the most sincere smile Gaara has ever seen broke out over Naruto's face and Sasuke began to lean forward…

…Gaara had had enough. Rising to his feet despite the sudden head rush that almost toppled him over again, Gaara turned on his head and punched the door open. The loudness, interrupted the would-be kiss, as Naruto eyes snapped in the direction Gaara had just disappeared down. Momentarily forgetting Sasuke, Naruto ran after the redhead, calling his name several times, until he caught up.

"Gaara, listen-!"

"Shut up."

"W-what?" Naruto said, voice small and full of disbelief.

"I said. Shut. Up. I don't want to hear your shit." Gaara's voice was ice cold. Somewhere in his mind, he was begging himself to calm down so he didn't say something he'd later regret. Gaara refused to look at Naruto, so he didn't notice how they began to tear up.

"B-but Gaara, i-it's okay! I took the punch so you won't get kicked out-"

Gaara turned around so quickly that Naruto cut his sentence off abruptly as Gaara got right in his face. It seemed like that had been happening a lot. People getting in his face.

"You think that's why I'm pissed off!" Gaara barked. Naruto eyes widened at the furious look in his eyes.

"W-why else-?"

"Because you were fucking _kissing_ him!" Gaara hissed. Not waiting for Naruto to say anything else, Gaara bolted down the hallway and out of the school. Forgetting everything he'd been sent there to accomplish. He didn't care that he risked suspension for up and leaving. He didn't care that Kabuto and his father would have his ass for this stunt.

All he cared about was ridding himself of all these feelings that were like a virus to his mind. Foreign entities taking over his DNA like it belonged to them. He didn't know what was happening to him, and he didn't know why he was acting the way he was. All he knew was that he needed to get away.

Before someone got hurt.

Naruto

Naruto watched through teary eyes, his mouth still open in a silent call, as Gaara disappeared through the double doors. He was left absolutely speechless, standing lost in the middle of the hallway. He didn't know what to do with himself. Go after him? Stay? Crawl into a hole?

The blonde didn't even flinch when Sasuke's hand rested on his shoulder, slowing turning him around to face concerned onyx eyes. Without warning, Naruto broke down, right in front of the last person he swore he never would. Sasuke stood silently for a moment, before pulling the blonde to his chest. And there they stood, in each other's arms. Even after the bell rang and students started filling the halls.

Sasuke didn't let him go.

* * *

A/N: Hope this wasn't too bad after being on a year plus long hiatus. I always appreciate a review! No flames -_-


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